Thunderbirds Series 1, Episode 7: Medal of Honour
by SatNavDan
Summary: When Air Force One is hi-jacked by none other than the President of the United States himself, Daniel suspects something is amiss so he leads a daring mission to get aboard the plane and find out what the President is up to before a new global war is started.
1. Pre-Titles

AIR Force One had just taken off from Joint Base Andrews heading for Paris. It was flying President Paul Marshall to a gathering of the world's leaders to discuss new methods of dealing with terrorist situations that were occurring a lot more frequently than they had used to be. For protection, the aircraft was joined by four Vixen fighter jets – one of the most powerful fighters in the world.

President Marshall was not travelling along aboard Air Force One. His wife Gemma and daughter Annie were among the passengers that also included various military personnel and other dignitaries plus a small number of press people who were there to cover the President's role as host for the summit in Paris.

As the plane crossed the coast and began flying over the Atlantic, President Marshall noticed that Annie was looking unwell. "You feeling okay, Annie?" he asked.

Gemma gave him a look. "Does she look okay to you, Paul?" she asked crossly as she tended to her daughter. "You know damn well she always gets airsick. I don't know why you agreed for her to come on this trip."

"But I want to see Paris, Mom," said Annie. "I've always wanted to."

"You see," The President said to Gemma. "Nothing to do with me this time."

Gemma just scoffed and continued to nurse Annie whilst President Marshall headed out of their suite into the passenger cabin where all the guests were.

"How is everyone doing?" he asked.

"Everything is fine, Mr President," answered Major Brown. "How's the First Lady and Daughter?"

"Ah, my Annie always gets airsick I'm afraid," said President Marshall. "But she's been wanting to see Paris so who was I to say 'no' to her?"

"Very noble of you, Mr President," agreed Charlotte Keegan. She was the President's secretary. "I have some tablets in my bag which may make Annie feel better until we land." She opened her handbag and took out a little box which she passed to the President.

"Why, Charlotte, that is most kind," said the President. "Thank you."

A brown-haired stewardess with glasses was serving coffee to everyone. As she did so, a dark-skinned security guard came into the cabin from the opposite end. Both looked at the President. He looked at them, and gave a small nod to which they both nodded back. Nobody noticed this as the stewardess then left the cabin and the President went back to his office.

"Here," he said handing Gemma the box of tablets. "Get her to take some of those. She'll need it."

"Why?" asked Gemma as she took a tablet out of the box and gave it to Annie. "Are we expecting some rough weather?"

"Not that I have been informed of," replied the President. "However, one must always be ready for the unexpected." As he spoke, he opened a draw in his desk. There wasn't much in it except for some pens, a ruler, a notepad…and a revolver!

At the same moment, the stewardess was taking cups of coffee to the crew in the cockpit. She knocked when she reached the door.

"Come in!" called Captain James Travis. "Ah, Julie. Thank you."

"How's the President?" asked Co-Pilot James Newbern.

"Fine," replied the stewardess. "Everything will stay that way unless you don't do as you're told."

The two pilots looked at each other.

"What the hell's that supposed to…" Captain Travis turned and froze to see the stewardess was holding a handgun at them. Newbern was about to make a move but was stopped when she turned the gun on him. She had it at an angle where she could instantly fire at either one of them.

"There's been a change of plan," she said. "Don't change our course until I tell you to." She then spoke into a device located on her wristwatch. "Cockpit secure!" she said.

Suddenly, the two fighters guarding the rear of Air Force One each fired a missile which struck the two leading ones. The one flying on the port-side was blown to pieces whilst the one on the starboard-side went spiralling out of control before exploding one-hundred feet above the ocean.

The passengers aboard Air Force One were alarmed.

"What the hell's going on here?" exclaimed Colonel Jackson jumping out of his seat. "We're under attack!"

"Well done, Colonel," said the dark-skinned security guard as he suddenly produced a gun making Charlotte and the two female reporters cry out in fright.

"Menkin, what is the meaning of this?" demanded Colonel Jackson as he and Major Brown pulled out their own guns. "Put that gun down!"

The door of the cabin opened and two more security guards entered bringing in the other two stewardesses who had been bound and gagged with silver tape. A third security guard standing by the door to the President's suite also drew his gun and pointed it at the military officers.

"I suggest you drop your guns," said the dark-skinned security guard with a menacing look in his eyes. "If you don't, you can say 'goodbye' to these two!"

Major Brown and Colonel Jackson hesitated for a moment before lowering their guns and dropping them onto the floor.

Gemma had been alerted to the commotion in the cabin and had peered through the door to see what was going on. She gasped in horror when she saw the two captive stewardesses and the security guards with the guns.

"Mom, what is it?" asked Annie.

"The security guards are hi-jacking the plane!" cried Gemma. She turned to her husband. "Paul, you've got to…" She broke off suddenly. Her eyes went wide with fright and her skin went white. Annie looked round at her father and gasped, for he was now holding the gun that was in his draw at them.

President Marshall didn't say a word. He just produced a sinister smile.

Air Force One then began to turn to the right with the two remaining escorts following. Something very wrong was happening aboard the President's plane.


	2. Act I

Daniel and the rest of the International Rescue team couldn't believe what they were seeing and hearing. President Marshall was making a live worldwide broadcast from Air Force One demanding that every leader in the world surrender their country to the United States in less than twelve hours.

"If there is any form of resistance or sign of possible war emerging in the wake of this broadcast, I can assure you that you will be dealt with accordingly. I am not taking 'no' for an answer. By midnight tonight, I expect to have received the official surrender from each country. If you don't do as I say, your citizens will suffer the consequences!"

The broadcast ended at that point.

"Is this a joke?" Laura said angrily. "Has he gone crazy?! He can't do that to the people of the world!"

"He is the most powerful man in the world, remember?" said Jodie.

"That's hardly the point, Jodie," said Katie. "I agree with Laura. Not even the President of the United States should be allowed to do something like that."

"Exactly," said Beth. "But what can be done about it?"

"Nothing that we can do, I'm afraid," said Kerry, who had been watching the broadcast from Thunderbird 5. "This is for the United States government and GDF to deal with."

"What can they do though?" asked Wizzy. "The President said that if any attempt was made by any forces, even from those from his own country to get in close to Air Force One, they would be attacked and destroyed."

"Girls, calm down," said Joanne. "There's no point getting worked up over something you can't do. I'm sure the Vice-President and the those back in Washington will come up with a solution."

The girls fell quiet, feeling frustrated. But Daniel, who had been rather quiet, suddenly spoke. "Who says we can't do anything?"

Everyone looked at him.

"There's something fishy," Daniel continued. "President Marshall has been known to be one of the most popular presidents in history. It makes no sense that he should suddenly change like this."

"Deception, perhaps?" Jodie said. "He could have been putting that on to fool the world into thinking that and then striking when we least expect it."

"It's possible, Jodie, but I'm not convinced," said Daniel. "I think there's a bit more to this than what we know."

"How do you mean?" asked Joanne.

"Hang on a second," said Adrienne frowning at her father. "You're not going to say that that man isn't the president are you?"

"Not without proof, no," said Daniel. "But I'm not going to rule that out until we know for sure."

"Who the hell would be able to pull something that big off?" asked Katie. "Not even The Hood is capable of something like that."

"Agreed," said Laura. "He's not that stupid."

"Let's stop jumping to conclusions, shall we?" Kerry said. "I am inclined to agree with Laura and Katie though, Daniel. That does seem very unlikely considering how much security there is around the President."

"Well, we won't find the answers sitting here," said Daniel. "Kerry, are you able to track Air Force One?"

"Believe or not, I can," said Kerry. "It's currently flying South-East towards the South Atlantic but I can't give an estimate as to where it is going."

"Then we'd better move quickly," said Daniel. "And before anyone objects, I do have a plan that I'm going to put to Colonel Casey before we attempt it. Besides, there are people aboard that plane whose lives are in danger. We'll all go together in Thunderbird 2; I know we can turn invisible but I don't want to attract too much attention to what we're doing."

The others weren't entirely sure if this was a good idea, but they knew that Daniel must have his reasons. They decided to go along and see what happened.

Laura, Katie, Rosie, Beth, Adrienne Leanna and Wizzy hurried out of the lounge to make their way down to Thunderbird 2 whilst Daniel hurried over to the large rocket painting on the wall. He leant back against it and it began to tilt backwards sending him sliding down into a harness which took him down a long green tunnel. Robotic arms worked to attach his blue uniform with green utility sash as he went down. Once all that was complete, the rail his harness was on moved from the bottom side of the tunnel to the top side. Soon he reached Thunderbird 2's silo and swung down through the hatch in the top before closing the hatch behind him. He hurried to his seat and sat down before selecting Pod 2. The pod conveyor activated moving Pod 1 underneath the main body. Once Pod 2 was in position, the main body of Thunderbird 2 was lowered down onto it. Whilst all this had been going on, Laura, Beth, Adrienne, Katie, Wizzy, Leanna and Rosie had travelled down express elevators from the mansion to the silo and like Daniel had been changed into their uniforms on the way. They were now able to join Daniel in the cockpit and were ready to go. The rocks concealing the entrance to the hanger were lowered to allow Thunderbird 2 to taxi out onto the runway. As it came out, the palm trees were tilted back to allow it to pass. Soon it was on the launching ramp which lifted up into position. The wings folded out and the blast shield rose into place behind the rocket engines.

5…4…3…2…1!

The rocket engines fired and Thunderbird 2 lifted up off the ramp and into the evening sky above Tracy Island.

"Thunderbird 2 is go!" said Daniel as they turned and headed East towards the South Atlantic.

"You're all clear, Thunderbird 2," Jodie said over the radio. "Good luck and be careful, Mr Tracy."

"FAB," said Daniel. "Afterburners on!"

Thunderbird 2 rocketed off into the distance and was gone. Joanne and Zoë watched as the glow of its tail fire disappeared from view.

"What do you think Daniel has in mind?" Zoë asked.

"I don't know, Mrs Tracy," Joanne replied. "But whatever it is, I'm glad he's not getting Cassidy and Sian involved with it." She turned and went back inside the house leaving Zoë to gaze out over the fading light around Tracy Island.

* * *

Colonel Casey had been flown to Washington for a meeting with Vice-President Katherine Snow. Vice-President Snow admitted that she was reluctant to launch any fighters to intercept Air Force One for fear of the safety of the hostages aboard.

"I just can't understand it, Colonel," she was saying. "Paul is one of the most wonderful men I've ever known. Why on earth would he want to do this?"

"If I could answer that, madam Vice-President, I would," said Colonel Casey. "But I'm afraid I've been asking myself the same question, as is everyone on the planet."

"Oh, it's terrible!" moaned the Vice-President. "We've been getting reports that Russia, China, Indonesia and Western Europe are all getting their forces ready. If we can't resolve the situation, we could be looking at another global conflict!"

Before Colonel Casey could reply, her personal radio bleeped. "Excuse me, please," she said. "Yes, Tedford, what is it?"

"Pardon my intrusion, Colonel," answered Ned Tedford. "I have International Rescue on the line for you. Apparently they have a plan to resolve this crisis."

Colonel Casey and the Vice-President exchanged looks.

"Oh, really?" said Colonel Casey, intrigued. "Put them through."

Ned complied and put Daniel's call through.

"Daniel?"

"Hello, Martha," Daniel's voice said from the radio. The speaker was on so they could both hear what he was saying. "I understand you're with the Vice-President so I won't keep you long."

"That's okay," said Colonel Casey. "Now what's this about an idea you've got?"

"Well, you might think this is crazy," Daniel said, "so I'm going to ask for both the Vice-President's permission as well as yours before we proceed."

"Right now, I'm open for suggestions," said the Vice-President.

"What's the plan?" asked Colonel Casey.

"We're going to sneak up behind Air Force One and get aboard," said Daniel. "We'll take out the President and anyone working with him to regain control of the aircraft."

Colonel Casey and the Vice-President exchanged looks.

"And how exactly are you going to pull that off?" asked Colonel Casey. "As far as we know there are still two fighters flying with it who must be answering to the President."

"I'm not concerned about them," said Daniel. "We'll use Thunderbird 2's cloaking devices to make us invisible both to sight and to radar. They won't even know that we're there. However we will distract and lure them away before we proceed."

"Yes, but how are you going to get aboard the plane?" asked Colonel Casey. "And have you any idea just how dangerous something like that is?"

"Haven't quite worked that bit out yet," said Daniel. "And yes we do know how dangerous it is. Firstly, we'll create a distraction to lure one or maybe even both of the fighters away before we attempt to board. I've got Kerry going over the plane's schematics to try and find us a way in. now, do we have your permission to do this?"

Colonel Casey looked at the Vice-President who came over to speak to Daniel. "International Rescue, this is Vice-President Snow speaking. I must say that your scheme is risky and very dangerous. However, none of my staff have got any other options so I don't see that we have a choice. You have my permission. Good luck and God bless you."

"That's a 'go' from me, too," Colonel Casey added. "Be careful, Daniel."

"Don't worry, we will," said Daniel. "This is Thunderbird 2, over and out."

Thunderbird 2 was now flying over South America closing in on the location of Air Force One. It was now time to go into camouflage-mode so that the aircraft and its two remaining escorts wouldn't be able to detect it.

* * *

President Marshall walked up and down his suite waiting impatiently for his demands to be answered. It had been over half an hour since he'd made his announcement and yet nobody had replied.

Gemma and Annie had been tied to chairs so that they couldn't interfere. Annie was sobbing whilst Gemma was looking fearfully at her husband.

"Why are you doing this to us?" Gemma asked. "We're your wife and daughter for God's sake, UNTIE US!"

SMACK! The President struck her across the face with his gun. "Be quiet unless you're spoken to!" he snapped. "And the same goes for you too!" he added pointing it at Annie who looked away, shaking with fear.

The door opened and the dark-skinned security guard appeared. "Is there a problem, sir?" he asked.

"No, no, we're good here," the President replied ignoring the sobs from his wife and daughter.

The security guard nodded and closed the door. He walked back through the cabin looking at the rest of the hostages. All had their hands bound with silver tape but only the two stewardesses and Charlotte had been gagged. This was done to make sure that nobody tried anything stupid. In the cockpit, the stewardess continued to maintain her guard over the two pilots. None of them had said a word since they'd been ordered to change their course.

* * *

The cloaking devices that Jodie had installed on Thunderbird 2 were working well. It was now approaching the position given to them by Kerry.

"There it is," said Leanna, catching sight of the big aircraft and its escorts.

The others looked at and watched as the three aircraft flew across their path. It was soon clear that they were indeed oblivious to their presence.

"The cloaking devices are working perfectly, Dad," said Katie. "They have absolutely no idea that we're here."

"Good," said Daniel. "Kerry, have you had any luck in finding us a way in?"

"Not a discrete one, no," Kerry replied. "How many of you are going in?"

"As many as possible," Daniel replied. "Do we know how many hi-jackers are aboard?"

"I've done an x-ray scan of the aircraft," Kerry said. "As far as I can tell, the President is in his suite with the First Lady and First Daughter as hostages. There are four in the main cabin where the military and other dignitaries are being held and there's one in the cockpit watching the two pilots."

"So that's six including the President," said Laura.

"Let's hope that's all there is," said Daniel.

"It has to be," said Kerry. "They're the only ones moving around the plane. Everyone else is sat down."

"So we'll need two of us per hi-jacker?" asked Adrienne. "But there are only eight of us."

"Count again," said a familiar Polish voice over the radio.

Everyone looked out of the window to see Thunderbird 7 appear beside them.

"Thunderbird 7 - glad you could make it, Karolina," said Daniel.

"Hell, I wouldn't miss this for anything!" laughed Karolina. "A covert ops mission without me? No way!"

This made the others feel more relaxed knowing Karolina was with them.

"Okay then, here's the plan," said Daniel. "I will board the plane with Laura, Beth, Adrienne, Wizzy and Karolina as my back-up. We'll split into pairs and take one section each. Wizzy and Laura, you take the cockpit, Karolina and Adrienne will retake the cabin as you're the most skilled martial-artists we have. And Beth and I will deal with the President himself."

"What about me?" asked Leanna.

"Ah, yes, I may have a special job for you, Leanna," Daniel said. "Kerry, what is our way in?"

"The only option I can see is the cargo bay," Kerry said. "I can remotely hack the controls and operate the door for you, but that will alert everyone on the plane that something is going on."

"And the escort planes will be sent back to check," added Beth.

"Which is what I suspected," said Daniel. "So, Leanna, you're going to have to be our diversion."

"Sure," said Leanna. "What do you need me to do?"

"I want you to launch Thunderbee and activate that new chameleon device that Jodie has installed on it. If it works it should attract the attention of the escorts and lure them away. Might I however suggest that Thunderbee be piloted remotely from here just in case they realise what it really is and destroy it."

Leanna nodded. "Consider it done," she said as she got up from her seat. "Although I'd rather pilot it if that okay with you."

"Whatever's best for you," Daniel replied. "Just try not to get yourself killed, okay?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," said Leanna as she left the cockpit.

Leanna went down into the pod where the Aeronautical Repair Pod, that they had nicknamed 'Thunderbee' was waiting for her. After putting on her helmet and getting into the cockpit, she called Daniel to tell him she was ready.

"Good luck, Leanna," said Daniel as Katie opened the doors in the underbelly of the pod.

Once the doors were opened, Leanna started up Thunderbee's rotor blades and released the docking clamp. It dropped down through the bottom of Pod 1 and the rotor wings folded out. Leanna then flew the small craft away from Thunderbird 2 and cautiously approached the fighter jet guarding the port-side of Air Force One.

"Leanna, you have to be careful," Jodie said over the radio. "That chameleon device isn't perfected. I'm worried you might be discovered."

"Now you tell me!" remarked Leanna. "Okay, here goes nothing. Activating the chameleon – now!"

None of the International Rescue team was even aware as to what this new chameleon device of Jodie's actually did. There were very surprised when Thunderbee disappeared from their view and was replaced by a hologram image of a colossal green dragon!

"Blimey!" exclaimed Rosie. "That's incredible!"

Because of the size of the dragon image, it didn't take long for the pilot of the escort jet to notice it. "YEEAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!" he screamed in terror. "IT'S A DRAGON!"

"He's spotted you!" Kerry said to Leanna. "Move it, quickly!"

Leanna got ready to move Thunderbee away so that she could lead the escort away from Air Force One, but to everyone's surprise, the pilot instead activated the jet's after-burners and raced away in a different direction.

"Okay…that was unexpected!" remarked Katie.

The people aboard Air Force One were just as surprised to see the dragon as the pilots were. They all thought they were dreaming.

"Cobra 3! Where the hell are you going?!" demanded the President. "Get the hell back here and protect us!" The only response he got was the pilot still screaming. "Cobra 4 - get rid of that dragon!"

"Sir, yes sir!" acknowledged the pilot of the jet on the starboard side of Air Force One. He performed a barrel roll over the top of the aircraft so that he was now on the same side as the dragon.

"Leanna, that's your cue – go for it!" said Daniel.

"F-A-B!" Leanna answered and she hurried away from Air Force One with the escort jet in hot pursuit. This now left Air Force One completely unprotected, just as Daniel had hoped.

"We don't have a lot of time," he said. "Let's get ready."

Less than two minutes later, the hatch on the roof of Thunderbird 2's cockpit had opened and the elevator had lifted Daniel, Laura, Beth, Adrienne and Wizzy up so that they were now out in the open. it was very windy so they were glad of their magnetic boots to keep them steady. They could see Thunderbird 7 flying alongside with its cockpit roof open and Karolina getting ready as well. Both she and Katie had targeted the rear tail-plane of Air Force One and fired magnetic grapples to the aircraft that Daniel and the girls could use to pull themselves across to it. One by one they made their way across until they were hanging on the cables close to the cargo door.

"Okay, we're ready," said Daniel. "Open her up."

"F-A-B," said Kerry.


	3. Act II

Kerry pressed a button on the hologram image of the plane in front of her which activated the cargo door mechanisms. Just as they'd predicted, the aircraft started to shake due to the air rushing into the cargo bay which started an alarm in the cockpit.

"What's going on?" demanded the stewardess.

"The cargo's door's opening!" exclaimed Newbern as he tried to move the control lever. "How the blazes did that happen?"

Daniel waited until the cargo door was about a quarter of the way open. the gap was now big enough for them to get in. "Kerry, that's far enough!" Daniel said via the radio in his helmet. "Ready, girls? One, two, three, now!" He released his grapple connector from the cable and dropped down into the plane. Karolina did the same as Laura followed Daniel down. Then Beth came down followed by Adrienne and then finally Wizzy. "We're aboard!" Daniel announced. "Close it up!"

"F-A-B," Kerry complied and soon the door was soon closed up again, much to the bewilderment of the President, his accomplices and the hostages aboard the plane.

"What happened?" the stewardess asked.

"No idea," replied Newbern. "It closed itself again."

"That is not meant to happen," remarked Captain Travis. "This system isn't meant to malfunction."

"What the hell's going on down there?!" demanded President Marshall over the intercom.

"Sorry, boss, I don't know," answered the stewardess. "Something caused the cargo door to open by itself and then close again."

The dark-skinned security guard came into the President's suite. "Something happen, sir?" he asked.

"Some rubbish about the cargo door opening," replied the President. "Go and have a look, would you?"

"Sir," said the security guard. He headed back out of the suite and down a corridor from the cabin that led through the sleeping quarters to the cargo bay. He opened the door and looked around. He was very puzzled as nothing in the cargo bay looked as if it had moved, which in fact it hadn't as the door hadn't been open wide enough for anything to be shifted.

As the guard made his way through amongst the crates, he failed to sense that he wasn't alone for Daniel and the girls were concealing themselves from view. Before he knew what had hit him, Karolina and Beth jumped out of nowhere and between them wrestled him to the ground before Laura delivered the knock-out punch.

"Well done," said Daniel. "That should keep him out of the way. Let's go."

They were about to head off when Wizzy noticed something about the security guard's short hair which was now visible since his cap had been knocked off. "Er…guys?" she said slowly as she rolled him over with her boot. "Is it me or does this guy look familiar?"

The others looked down. Now they could see his face, they realised who it was.

"Good heavens!" exclaimed Adrienne. "It can't be!"

"It bloody well is!" said Laura. "It's Mullion!"

There was a stunned silence as they exchanged surprised looks. And then realisation hit them all at the same time.

"Wait…if that's Mullion," said Beth, "then you know what this means, don't you?"

"Damn right, we do," said Daniel. "The man who made that broadcast earlier isn't President Marshall." He tapped his wrist controller. "Calling base, Thunderbird 5 and Colonel Casey. Do you all read me? Over."

"Receiving you, Daniel," said Kerry.

"Loud and clear," added Jodie.

"Go ahead, Daniel," finished Colonel Casey. "Sit-rep please."

"Martha, listen to me carefully," said Daniel. "Get in touch with security at the White House and have them search the building from top to bottom. Do the same at every other facility or location that President Marshall has been to in the last month or two. They may just come across him."

Colonel Casey exchanged a look with Vice-President Snow. "Daniel, what are you talking about?" she asked. "The President's on the plane with you."

"No, Martha, he's not," said Daniel. "We've just taken down one of the men that's helping him. We've positively identified the man as Mullion."

"Mullion?!" exclaimed Colonel Casey. "But that means…"

"Yes, Martha," said Daniel gravely. "The man in that office with the First Lady and Daughter is not President Marshall. It's The Hood! Now get those searches underway!"

"I'm on it," said Colonel Casey. "You heard that, Madam Vice-President?"

"I sure did," answered the Vice-President picking up her phone. "Jerry, it's Katherine. I need you to grab every available person you have and have them search the White House and all the places where the President has been recently. There is an imposter aboard Air Force One!"

* * *

Leanna was doing better than she'd thought she would. Due to the cloaking devices of Thunderbee, the escort fighter pursuing her was unable to get a lock-on. It wasn't helped by the fact he was trying to lock onto the dragon's head which of course wasn't really there.

"Come on, come on, lock onto the dragon, you stupid thing!" the pilot said crossly. "I need to get back to protect the President!"

Leanna was now starting to get bored of running. "I think this is gone on long enough," she said to herself. "Thunderbird 5, I'm going to try and dispose of my stalker."

"F-A-B, Leanna," said Kerry. "How do you plan to do that?"

"I haven't quite worked that out actually," Leanna decided to be honest. "I'm open to suggestions if you've got any?"

"Flame-thrower!" Jodie said. "Leanna, try and get behind the jet and use the flame-thrower. The hologram will react to this and make it look as though the fire is coming out of the dragon's mouth!"

"Awesome!" said Leanna, liking the idea a lot. She spun Thunderbee around so that she and hologram dragon were now facing the jet.

"What the?!" exclaimed the startled pilot. "Dragons can't do that?!"

Leanna took careful aim and pulled the trigger on the flame-thrower. As she did so, the dragon's head lowered to match the height and its mouth opened as the flame came whooshing out towards the jet.

"AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" screamed the pilot, his eyes wide with fright. He pulled his ejector-seat lever, the cockpit canopy opened and he was thrust out of the aircraft just before it was engulfed in flames. They entered through the air intakes and ignited the fuel causing the aircraft to explode.

The pilot was safe as his parachute deployed but he was still terrified by the sight of the dragon which was coming towards him.

"Okay, Leanna, I think you can cut the chameleon circuit," said Kerry. "I think that guy has been through enough, don't you think?"

Leanna chuckled. "F-A-B," she said as she deactivated the chameleon device. The image of the dragon disappeared revealing the small yellow pod which headed away.

"Wait…what?!" exclaimed the pilot, staring in confusion. "But that…but that's a…uuuuhhhh…" He fainted.

* * *

Kerry had been checking the schematics of Air Force One to try and determine the best way for Daniel and the girls to reach the three main areas of the plane where the hostages were. She'd already found a vent located underneath the floor of the President's suite that was accessible from the cargo bay. She then found a second vent that ran along the top of the plane with three exit points – one over the cabin, one over the stewardess' galley and the final out just outside the door of the cockpit.

"Okay, girls, you know your targets," said Daniel. "No radio contact as that might give you away. So set your watches to a countdown target of exactly four minutes. That should give you plenty of time to get to your spots ready to strike.

"F-A-B, Dad," said Adrienne, Laura, Beth and Wizzy.

"Let's do this," said Karolina.

The team split up. Laura used her grapple gun to pull down the cover of the air-vent that led down to the cockpit. She then used it again to pull herself up into the vent. Wizzy followed her with Adrienne next and Karolina bringing up the rear. Once they were inside, Daniel pulled the cover off the vent down at floor level so he and Beth could crawl through to underneath the President's suite. They soon found themselves in the perfect spot and Daniel could see the President's trouser leg through the floor grate. Now they had to wait until the timer ran out in order to strike.

Laura, Wizzy, Adrienne and Karolina were making good progress through their own grate. They moved quickly but also made sure to be as careful and as quiet as possible so that they didn't attract any attention. They soon reached the first of the exit points which was directly over the top of the cabin where the majority of the hostages were. Karolina stayed behind whilst the others continued on. Then when they reached the second exit grate over the galley, Adrienne stopped and exited through it before positioning herself by the door leading into the cabin. Through her x-ray scanner, she could see that there was one guard by the door, one in the middle right under where Karolina was waiting, and the third was over by the door leading into the President's suite. Finally, Laura and Wizzy reached the end of the vent and dropped down next to the door of the cockpit. They too ran a quick scan and noticed that there was a woman watching over the pilots. They both had a pretty good idea who it was.

Now that they were all in position, the Tracy's and Karolina checked their watches. There was only twenty seconds left before their time was up so they got themselves ready.

The President was still pacing up down getting more and more annoyed. Still nobody had given in to his demands for surrender, and the security guard he'd sent to check the cargo bay was taking longer than expected. "What's taking him so long?" he grumbled. "And why has nobody given me their surrender? DO THEY WANT TO WHOLE OF THE UNITED STATES ARSENAL TO COME CALLING AT THEIR FRONT DOORS?!"

"Actually, no they don't," said a voice that seemed to be everywhere in the room. "Your grand scheme is about to reach its end."

The President, Gemma and Annie all turned their heads in surprise as Daniel burst through the grate and pounced onto the President.

Karolina dropped through the ceiling grate into the cabin onto the top of the security guard standing underneath whilst Adrienne opened the door and quickly subdued the guard standing next to that. the third guard went to grab his gun but Karolina was too quick for him and she knocked him out with a powerful kick to the face.

Now it was Laura and Wizzy's turn. Wizzy knocked on the cockpit door.

The stewardess looked round sharply. Thinking it was one of the guards she went to open it. "Don't try anything!" she ordered the pilots. The door opened and she found to her surprise that two girls in International Rescue uniform were standing in front of her. "WHAT?!" she cried.

"Hello, Transom," said Laura as she and Wizzy swung their arms and punched her in the face at the same time. She fell to the floor, instant knock-out.

As Wizzy handcuffed Transom, Laura walked over to the pilots. "Are you guys okay?" she asked.

"International Rescue?" asked Captain Travis. "How did you get in here?"

"Slight malfunction of your cargo door," replied Laura with a wink. "Relax, gentlemen, our colleagues are dealing with the others."

Karolina and Adrienne were busy cutting the hostages in the cabin free. They first freed Major Brown and Colonel Jackson who went to help free the others. Karolina turned her attention to the three gagged women by peeling the tape off their mouths. "Are you hurt?" she asked.

"No, we're fine," answered Charlotte. "They weren't violent with us, thank God."

"Please get us out of this," moaned Heather White, one of the stewardesses as Karolina cut through the tape binding her hands and feet.

The rescue appeared to be going well, but Daniel and Beth discovered that they had their hands full with the President. He was resisting Daniel and trying to fight back whilst Beth worked to untie Gemma and Annie.

"How dare you enter my plane uninvited, International Rescue!" thundered the President as he tried to hit Daniel with his gun. "You know I did choose not to mention that the global surrender would include your organisation as well. That was going to come later."

"Then you'd only have given yourself away much sooner," Daniel answered.

"What are you talking about?" demanded the President. "Don't you know who you're talking to? I am the President of the United States of America! I DON'T make mistakes!"

Daniel pushed the President backwards into the wall. "Drop the act, Belargant," he said crossly. "We know it's you!"

The President stopped and stared at Daniel. Gemma and Annie, who were now untied also stared with confusion between the two.

"What's he talking about?" asked Gemma.

Beth answered her question. "Forgive me, Mrs Marshall. You want to know why your husband has done this to you? Well, here's the truth. He's not your husband, are you?" she said looking at the President.

"What is the meaning of this?" thundered the President. "You two are crazy, you are! GUARDS, GET IN HERE!"

The door leading into the cabin opened to reveal Karolina. The President let out a gasp and stumbled back. "What-?!" he exclaimed.

"Hello…Uncle!" said Karolina, giving him a hard stare.

As the President stood frozen, Daniel seized his chance. He lunged forwards and grabbed the small red device that he'd spotted in the President's left trouser pocket. He then jumped back before the President could grab him and held the device up.

"Stop!" the President cried rushing forwards. "NO!"

Too late - Daniel had pressed the button. There was a flash of light around the President's head and his face changed from that of a man with a lot of grey hair to a man with no hair at all. Annie gave a small scream and fell back onto the sofa. Gemma gave a loud gasp and then fainted. Luckily, Beth caught her before she hit the floor.

The Hood looked furiously from Daniel to Karolina to Beth and back again. "But…but how?!" he cried. "This plan was fool-proof! How could you have known it was me?!"

"You may be good at disguising yourself," said Daniel. "But you're not very good at disguising your henchmen. We recognised that security guard in the cargo bay as Mullion."

Laura then appeared in the doorway. "And the stewardess in the cockpit is Transom," she said.

"There you go, Belardant," said Daniel. "You're not as smart as you thought you were."

The Hood let out a cry and lunged towards Daniel only for Daniel to punch him in the face and knock him out. "Take a nap," he said. Then he activated his radio. "This is Daniel. We've got him!"

This was a great feeling for the International Rescue team. Ever since they'd first started operating, The Hood had been a thorn in their side. He'd caused them a lot of trouble and for some of them, even pain. That was especially true with Karolina after he'd used his hypnotic powers to kill her father, even though it had actually been an accident.

With The Hood and his accomplices handcuffed and placed in the cargo bay, it was now okay for Air Force One to reverse its course and head back north. Due to it flying the wrong way, it would need to return to its base for refuelling before it could continue to Paris. Daniel and the girls stayed aboard the plane to make sure nothing else happened with Thunderbirds 2 and 7 flying escort.

Leanna soon caught sight of the three aircraft. It was lucky for her that they'd turned around as she wouldn't have been able to catch them up in Thunderbee.

"Thunderbird 2, I'm approaching you now," Leanna said. "Everything okay?"

"Everything's A-Okay, Leanna," answered Katie. "They've managed to catch The Hood!"

Leanna's eyes lit up. "Oh, my God, that's great!" she said excitedly. "I can feel a celebration happening tonight."

"I couldn't agree more," said Katie. "Hatch is open, Leanna. Come on in."

"F-A-B," said Leanna. She guided Thunderbee underneath Thunderbird 2 and then folded the rotor wings before the docking clamp magnet pulled her back into the pod.

As Daniel, Wizzy and Beth stood guard over The Hood and his henchmen, a call came through from Colonel Casey bringing even more good news. "Daniel, we've found him!" she said.

"The _real_ President?" asked Daniel.

"Affirmative," said Colonel Casey. "It's too typical of The Hood. The White House security found him locked in his own closet."

Daniel smirked at The Hood who grimaced. "Far too predictable," he said. "At least this is the last time."

"He's gone too far this time," agreed Colonel Casey. "We'll be waiting at Joint Base Andrews to take them off your hands and then the President and his family can start again."

Daniel contacted Laura, who was helping the freed hostages get over their ordeal, that the real President had been found safely so that she could pass on the information to his wife and daughter.

"Oh, thank heavens!" cried Gemma sobbing into her hands. "When your colleague pressed that device and his face changed…"

"Yes, I know," said Laura doing her best to comfort her. "The Hood has done that to people far too often."

"Who is he though?" asked Annie. "You sound like you've met him before."

"International master criminal," Laura said. "He's been trying to get his hands on the most advanced technology breakthroughs for years – including our own ships. So to finally catch him is a big achievement."

Gemma sniffed and wiped her eyes clean. "Well only International Rescue could've pulled something like this off," she said. "We can't thank you enough for this."

"It's okay, Mrs Marshall," said Laura with a smile. "We're just doing our job – saving lives in danger."

Daniel was now talking to Kerry. "News of what's really been happening on Air Force One has spread," she was saying. "All the world's leaders have told their military forces to stand down."

"Very wise move of them," said Daniel. "The last thing this world needs is another global war."

"Agreed," said Kerry. "How are the prisoners?"

"Quiet," said Daniel. "Transom and Mullion have given us some lip but Wizzy gave them both a kick in a place where the sun never shines. They haven't said a word since."

Kerry chuckled. "And The Hood?" she asked.

"He hasn't said a word at all," Daniel replied. "Karolina hasn't taken her eyes off him either."

"Let's hope that looking at him is all she does," Kerry said in a hushed voice. "You know how much she hates him for what he did to Kyrano."

"Hmm, yes," agreed Daniel. "Don't worry, Kerry. The Hood needs to rot in a prison cell. I'll make sure that this time he gets put in one."

"Be careful of talk like that," warned Kerry. "You could be asking for trouble."

Daniel knew his sister was right. "Yeah. Sorry, Kerry," he said. "We will just remain as vigilant."

* * *

Air Force One was now flying over the Caribbean on a more direct route back to Joint Base Andrews. Thunderbird 2 continued to maintain its position behind the aircraft whilst Thunderbird 7 continued to fly on autopilot alongside.

The journey was uneventful as the prisoners in the cargo bay gave no trouble and the freed passengers and crew were just happy to be alive and going back home.

Daniel decided to go and visit the cockpit to see how the pilots were getting on. "How much further?" he asked.

"About another hour and we'll be there," replied Captain Travis. "You know if you guys want to bail and return to your base, we can take those prisoners back with us. They won't be any trouble."

"Thanks, Captain, but no," said Daniel. "The Hood's a crafty man. I won't be happy until I see him locked up in a cell."

"You've dealt with him before then?" asked Newbern.

"He was the man who sabotaged the maiden flight of the original Fireflash at London Heathrow," Daniel said. "That was the very first mission we ever did. Didn't know who he was back then, but overtime we've began to learn about him and the things he's done. As far as I know, he's never been caught…until today."

"Congratulations, sir," said Captain Travis. "A pity it took an event such as this for you to be able to catch him."

"To be honest with you, Captain, I never even thought he would attempt a stunt such as this," Daniel said. "But that just goes to show just how cunning and sinister he is. He is not to be underestimated."

Daniel left the cockpit to make his way back to the cargo bay. But as he passed the galley, he heard a panicked call over his radio.

"Dad, come quick!" Beth's voice cried out. "He's got Wizzy!"

Daniel's blood ran cold as he sprinted through the cabin. Laura followed after him. They arrived in the cargo bay and found themselves facing a disturbing sight. The Hood had somehow escaped from his handcuffs and had grabbed hold of Wizzy, holding a knife to her throat. Karolina, Beth and Adrienne all had their guns drawn and Daniel and Laura quickly did the same.

"Don't come any closer, Tracy!" The Hood growled. "Or I will kill her!"

"Who the hell took his cuffs off?!" demanded Daniel.

"None of us!" replied Adrienne sharply.

"Fools!" The Hood chuckled. "No cuffs can hold me! I said STAY BACK!"

"Dad, please!" begged Wizzy. "Don't listen to him!"

"Calm yourself, Wizzy, I'm not!" Daniel said.

"You'd better, Tracy," The Hood said placing the blade on Wizzy's throat. "You Thunderbirds have a code. You will not kill. However, I'm not one of you. So it doesn't apply to me."

"You so much as make a mark on her…" Daniel began.

"You'll do what? Kill me?" asked The Hood. He laughed. "Then you'd know how good it feels. Go ahead, try it!"

The Tracy's and Karolina all gritted their teeth. They all wanted to shoot The Hood with their stun pellets, but they didn't dare in case they hit Wizzy.

"What's your game?" Daniel asked. "What do you want?"

"You will turn this plane back around," said The Hood. "I've come too far to turn back on this plan. Soon the governments of the world will have no choice but to surrender to me!"

"The truth's out, Uncle!" snapped Karolina. "The whole world knows that it wasn't the President who made that broadcast!"

The Hood grimaced. "That no longer matters," he said. "What does matter is that I know have you all at my mercy – and you will do as I say."

The Tracy's grimaced. This was not going according to plan any longer.


	4. Act III

The silence that filled the cargo bay of Air Force One would've been eire if not for the sound of aircraft engines and the accompanying wind noise from outside.

Daniel the girls stared down upon The Hood who was holding a rather frightened Wizzy in his grip.

"Let her go," Daniel demanded.

"No, I won't," The Hood growled back. "You're all under my control now!"

The tension was getting too much for the Tracy's.

"I would do as you're told if I were you," said Transom with a sly smiling. "You really have no choice but to obey him."

"Like hell we will!" said Daniel defiantly. "NOW!"

Kerry, who had been listening in to what had been going on immediately pressed a button. An alarm started ringing and red lights started flashing throughout the cargo bay. Then the cargo bay door started to open. air raced into the plane pushing The Hood over and allowing Wizzy the chance to break free of his clutches. She rolled along the floor until she was safely with Beth. This time, Kerry let the door open the full way. Katie had to move Thunderbird 2 back a bit as some pieces of cargo began to fly out.

"Woah, that was close!" Katie remarked. "Little warning next time, Thunderbird 5?"

Daniel and Karolina tried to grab The Hood but had to dive out the way of some crates which were pushed towards them by the force of the air rushing in. The Hood managed to grab hold of the metal pipe that he and his accomplices had been handcuffed to and he managed to pull it off its mounting. This enabled Mullion and Transom to remove themselves from the pipe.

"DAD, THEY'RE MAKING A BREAK FOR IT!" yelled Adrienne.

Daniel saw this and moved quickly towards them. "YOU'RE NOT GETTING OUT OF THIS ONE!" he shouted. "NONE OF YOU ARE!"

But The Hood then revealed why he'd grabbed hold of Wizzy. She had been given his little red device by Daniel after the scuffle, and now he'd got it back.

"You might have saved everyone once today, Tracy!" The Hood said. "But you won't save them a second time!" He pressed a button on the device.

There was a loud BANG and the whole aircraft shuddered. The passengers cried out in alarm.

"What is it?!" asked Captain Travis.

Before Newbern could reply there was a second explosion and the whole cockpit section broke away from the rest of the plane.

"What's happening?" exclaimed Beth after being knocked off her feet.

Only Katie, Leanna and Rosie could see what was going on.

"Oh, my God!" Rosie and Leanna gasped together.

"Jesus!" Katie cried. "GUYS, GET OUT OF THERE! AIR FORCE ONE'S BREAKING APART!"

Then there was another explosion that separated the tail and cargo section from the cabin. A large section of the hull on the port-side was also ripped open and the terrified passengers suddenly found themselves being sucked out of the aircraft. As Daniel and the girls struggled to grab hold of something, they were forced to watch helplessly as The Hood dropped out of the cargo hold with Mullion and Transom.

"NO!" roared Karolina in frustration. "THEY'VE ESCAPED!"

"GUYS, FORGET THEM!" Kerry yelled over everyone's radios. "THE PLANE'S BEEN RIPPED OPEN AND ALL THE PASSENGERS ARE IN THE SKY NOW! YOU HAVE TO SAVE THEM!"

Upon hearing this, Daniel put on his helmet and dived out of the cargo bay with the girls following behind him. Unlike the passengers and crew, they'd been trained for a free-fall through the sky and had no trouble in guiding themselves down towards them.

"We've got to help them!" Rosie said to Katie.

"Strap in and hold on!" Katie replied as she put Thunderbird 2 into a steep dive and fired the main engines. They raced along past their teammates and the falling passengers and crew, all the latter were screaming in terror.

"How are we going to do this?" Laura asked Daniel.

"Katie, get underneath and use the inflatable bed to catch them!" Daniel said. "We'll try and grab hold of them and make a chain to guide them to you."

"F-A-B, Dad," replied Katie. "In position now!" She cut the main engines and levelled out before using the vertical thrusters to slow their descent. She then opened the roof of the pod where there was a large orange inflatable landing cushion.

Daniel and the girls split up to try and grab the nearest person they could find. The nearest person to Daniel turned out to be Heather the stewardess. She saw him coming and started calling out until he grabbed hold of her. "I got you!" he said. "What's your name?" But Heather was panting too hard and couldn't answer. Luckily he saw a badge on her uniform. "Ah, Heather!" he said. "You're going to be okay, but I need you to help me! You see that man over there? I want you to reach out and grab him whilst I grab the Colonel!"

"O…okay!" Heather just managed to say.

Daniel moved his body so that he could get them close to the falling male journalist and Colonel Jackson. Heather managed to grab the journalist whilst Daniel caught the Colonel.

Laura had managed to catch Gemma, the other stewardess and a female journalist. Beth had got Major Brown, two male journalists and one female journalist. Wizzy had been able to get hold of Captain Travis, a female journalist and one of the other security guards. Adrienne had Co-Pilot Newbern, the other stewardess and three male journalists and Karolina had caught Annie, Charlotte, the last two female journalists and another military officer whose name they didn't know. It was very difficult to keep them all holding hands as they glided down towards Thunderbird 2, especially as they all had Katie shouting at them through their radios.

"Guys, you're too spaced out!" Katie said. "At this rate I won't be able to catch you all. We're getting too close to the sea!"

"Then hover and catch one group at a time!" Daniel said. "Thunderbird 5, can you guide Thunderbird 2 to a position where she can catch each group?"

"Already on it," Kerry replied. She looked at a hologram image showing the positions of Daniel and the girls with the plane's personnel and compared them to the position of Thunderbird 2. "Katie, move ten degrees to port!"

Katie complied and moved Thunderbird 2 under the first group which was Adrienne's. Adrienne guided them over the great green leviathan and they dropped safely onto the orange bed. Leanna and Rosie had come up to help get them off quickly so that the next group would be able to land on it. They didn't want any unnecessary injuries sustained by colliding with each other.

"Where next, Kerry?" asked Katie.

"Right, right, three degrees," replied Kerry.

Thunderbird 2 moved again, this time to catch Laura's group. Then it was Wizzy's group that was caught, and then Beth's. there was a close-call when Beth almost lost Major Brown when his hand slipped out of hers but she managed to catch him by the leg.

"Careful, Major!" Beth called. "You don't want to end up in the drink!"

"T-thank you!" stammered Major Brown as Beth guided him and the others she'd caught onto the pad.

There were now only two groups left, but they were gradually getting closer to the sea below.

"Left, left, two degrees, Katie," Kerry said.

"Left, left, two degrees," Katie acknowledged.

Daniel watched as Karolina guided her group into Thunderbird 2. "Okay, guys, now it's our turn!" he called to his group. "Soon have you safe."

"Last group, Thunderbird 2," said Kerry as she watched Daniel's position on the map. "Might be an idea to take her up a bit to meet them."

"F-A-B," said Katie. She increased power to Thunderbird 2's thrusters which brought the ship to a stop and then began to push it up towards Daniel's group. This was meant to be a quick and simple way to get them in, but unfortunately, it didn't go the way they wanted.

"Almost there," Daniel said.

Suddenly there was a sudden gust of wind that pushed them downwards.

"Oh, God – we're gonna die!" cried Heather.

"No you're bloody not!" Daniel shouted. He summoned all his strength and managed to push the group in the direction of Thunderbird 2. He then dived after them, but as they landed on the pad, another gust of wind pushed him off course and he landed heavily, striking his helmet on the side of the pod. He fell onto the main body, bounced along and tumbled over the side.

"DAD, NO!" screamed Beth who'd seen what had happened.

"What is it?" asked Katie. "What's wrong?"

"Dad's hit his head!" Beth cried. "He's gone over the edge!"

Kerry could see what had happened on the hologram. "He's still falling!" she cried. "He's going to end up in the sea!"

"Not if I can help it!" said Karolina. Before anyone could stop her, she jumped through the open roof and ran along the side of the main body before diving off after Daniel. However, she could see he was already quite a way down from her.

"Karolina, you won't make it!" Kerry cried. "He's too far down!"

But Karolina wasn't going to give up. Thinking quickly, she brought her arm round and tapped her watch. This sent a signal to Thunderbird 7 which came swooping down from above. It raced past Thunderbird 2 and opened its cockpit canopy to allow Karolina to land in the seat before closing up again. Taking the controls, she dived after Daniel, locked onto him using her targeting computer and fired a grappling cable before engaging her retros. The grapple cable caught Daniel less than five metres above the surface of the sea.

"I got him!" Karolina said. "Bringing him up to you now."

The rest of the International Rescue team waited anxiously as Thunderbird 7 came back up to their altitude and hovered overhead with Daniel dangling from the cable. The top of the pod had been closed up so the smaller hatch in the roof of the cockpit was opened. Wizzy and Rosie came up on the elevator to release Daniel from the cable and then take him back down.

"Thank you, Karolina," said Katie. "God, that really scared me!"

"It scared all of us, Katie," Laura said.

"I'm going to have to leave you, guys," Karolina said. "My fuel's getting to that point where I might not make it back."

"That's okay, Karolina, you get back home," said Laura. "And, thank you for saving Dad."

"You're most welcome," replied Karolina. She turned Thunderbird 7 around and headed away back towards Tracy Island.

Putting Thunderbird 2 onto autopilot, Katie left her seat and came over to the back of the cockpit where everyone else was gathered around Daniel who'd been laid out on the floor. Beth and Wizzy appeared to be struggling to get his helmet off.

"My God!" gasped Leanna. "His visor's cracked!"

There was a click as the helmet loosened.

"Got it," said Wizzy.

"Easy now," said Rosie as they removed the helmet from Daniel's head. His eyes were closed and looked to be unconscious. At least they hoped that's all it was. Rosie began feeling over Daniel's body and using her stethoscope to listen to his chest. It was a specially modified stethoscope so that she could listen to heartbeats through his uniform. "There, his heart's still beating," she said with relief. "And he does not appear to be injured. He'll be okay."

"But why's he unconscious?" asked Adrienne. "I thought the helmets were meant to protect our heads so that we couldn't get knocked out?"

"The crack in the visor, I expect," Rosie said. "The sudden change in air pressure may have caused him to blackout. Let's get him into the medical bay until we get back to Tracy Island."

"What about our passengers?" asked Katie. "We're going to have to drop them off first."

Kerry came over the radio. "I've just been on to Joint Andrews Base," she said. "They're sending out a fighter escort to guide you in. And there's someone else waiting for you too."

The girls looked at each other, wondering who it could be as Thunderbird 2 made its way across the Caribbean towards the United States.

* * *

Thunderbird 2 was now approaching the Eastern Seaboard of the United States just South of Washington DC. The flight had been uneventful. Daniel was stable in the sick-bay with Rosie watching over him whilst Beth, Wizzy, Leanna and Adrienne stayed with everyone from Air Force One inside the pod. Laura came into the cockpit and sat down in Daniel's seat. She had been in the pod as well but had decided to leave the others to it.

"How are they doing?" Katie asked.

"Everyone's rather shaken as you can imagine," Laura said. "But nobody's seriously injured. It may take them a while to get over the trauma they've been through but physically they are fine. How's Dad doing?"

"Rosie says he's stable," Katie said. "She says there's no immediate danger but she wants to get him back to the island as soon as we can. After we've dropped our guests off first of course."

Before Laura could reply, they were suddenly alerted to five contacts on the radar. They were coming from the East.

"What the hell are they?" asked Laura.

"No idea," said Katie. "But whatever they are, they're heading towards us."

Just then Kerry's hologram appeared. She sounded rather concerned. "Thunderbird 2, I'm detecting some unidentified aircraft approaching you from the East."

"We see them," Katie replied. "Any idea what they are?"

"I'm trying to find out," Kerry said. "I was told by Joint Andrews Base that they were going to send an escort out to guide you into the base. But those aircraft are coming from the wrong direction."

Katie and Laura exchanged worried looks. They then looked back at the screen. The five aircraft were coming in closer.

A few miles behind Thunderbird 2, five sleek grey fighter jets with strange markings on them moved in towards the great green goliath. As they approached, they split up. The two on the right of the leading plane moved in close towards the starboard engine of Thunderbird 2 whilst the two on the left did the same on the port side. The lead aircraft flew directly over the top of Thunderbird 2 and then positioned itself along the port-side of the cockpit.

Laura and Katie saw the strange yellow star symbol on the plane's tail. It wasn't a marking that either of them recognised.

"They're not USAF, are they?" asked Katie.

Laura shook her head. "No, they are not," she said.

Then the radio started to bleep.

"It would appear that they're trying to contact us, Thunderbird 5," said Laura.

"Well let them speak, Laura," Kerry said. "But be prepared for anything."

Katie decided to warn the others. "Everyone listen up. We've got five strange aircraft positioned around us. They're trying to make contact. Please don't be alarmed if we make some sudden movements. These aircraft have markings that I've never seen before. That is all."

Everyone in the pod looked at each other with apprehension. They hoped nothing serious was going to happen although deep down they felt that it would.

Laura pressed the 'receive' button on the radio. "This is International Rescue, Thunderbird 2. Go ahead unidentified aircraft."

"International Rescue, this is Major Bautovich of the Kazakhstan Air Force," the thick accent answered from the mysterious jet. "We have reason to believe you are carrying the man who has just declared war on our country and the rest of ze world. We insist that you hand him over to us at once."

Laura and Katie stared at each other.

"Are you referring to President Marshall?" Laura asked.

"Of course," said the pilot. "I don't know how you managed to get everyone off Air Force One but we must take him back to answer for him declaring war on ze world."

"Major, we don't have the President aboard," said Laura. "That was an imposter aboard Air Force One. he destroyed the plane and escaped annoyingly. All we have aboard are the First Lady, First Daughter and all the other people who were on Air Force One."

"You bluff me, International Rescue," the pilot said. "There is nobody on zis planet can impersonate the President of ze United States of America."

"Well they did," Laura said. "The real President Marshall was found alive and well in the White House earlier today. I suggest you get your superiors to get in touch with the American authorities to confirm that."

"You try my patience," the pilot scoffed. "Now land and hand him over to us or we will have to force you to."

Laura said nothing. She looked at Katie. Both had sweat forming on their foreheads. They weren't sure what to do. This was where they needed Daniel for he always knew how to get out of situations like this. They didn't want to speak to Kerry either for they feared the pilot might overhear them. And nor did they want to risk knocking the planes out of the sky with an EMP and cause a major incident. This was an impossible situation.

Laura unfastened herself from Daniel's seat. "Say nothing," she whispered to Katie and she headed out of the cockpit. She wasn't going to the pod though. Instead she was going to talk to Thunderbird 5 without the pilot hearing her. "Kerry, you there?"

"Yes, Laura. I heard what he said," Kerry answered.

"I don't get it," said Laura. "I thought the word had reached every country that it wasn't the president who made those threats?"

"I thought so too," Kerry replied. "Now, Laura, listen carefully. I've already alerted Joint Andrews and the GDF. They're going to get in touch with the Kazakhstan authorities and get those planes to back off of you. In the meantime, ignore them as best you can. Do not engage them unless they attack you first. Understand?"

"Understood," Laura said. She glanced back towards the sick-bay where she knew Daniel was. "Kerry, I'm scared."

"I know, Laura," Kerry said. "With Daniel currently out, you're the one with the burden and you wish that you weren't. But you have to be brave. Promise me that."

Laura nodded. "I promise," she said.

"Now go lead," said Kerry, smiling.

Laura took a deep breath and went back into the cockpit. Katie was trying her best to ignore the pilot who was starting to get very irritated.

"International Rescue, answer me!" the pilot said crossly. "Land now and hand over ze President. I will not ask you again."

"Major, for the last time, he's not aboard," Laura said doing her best to sound demanding. "The Global Defence Force is currently speaking to your superiors to explain the situation to them. I would also like to warn you that Joint Andrews Base has launched some escort jets to help guide us in. They won't take kindly to you being around us. Please turn around and head back to where you came from."

But the pilot just scoffed again. "Fine, you ask for it!" he said. His jet then pulled back out of view.

"Oh, great, now what?" asked Katie.

Laura turned on the rear-view cameras. She could now see the five fighters lining up in a side-by-side formation. They looked as though they were arming missiles. "Are the shields raised?" Laura asked.

"Affirmative," Katie replied.

"Good," said Laura. "Let's hope they hold. Kerry, where are those escorts?"

"Escort ETA is about seven minutes," Kerry replied. "Colonel Casey is with President Marshall. They are both talking to the President of Kazakhstan right now. Hopefully he can get his Generals to then call those planes off."

A sudden alarm sounded on the control panel. A computer message reading 'Missile Lock' appeared in front of the girls. "Uh-oh!" they both said together.

"FIRE!" the pilot of the lead plane ordered.

A missile was launched from each of the jets. They homed in on Thunderbird 2. But to the surprise of the pilots, the missiles exploded short of their target having struck the powerful force-field around Thunderbird 2.

"What happened?" asked one of the other pilots.

"They have a force-field," cursed the lead pilot. "Fire again!"

The five jets launched a second round of missiles only for the same thing to happen again. Even though the force-field was protecting Thunderbird 2, it didn't stop the ship from shuddering slightly. Everyone inside the pod was starting to get worried.

"Where are those damn escorts?" Katie asked crossly. "The shields won't last forever."

Kerry then contacted them again. "Good news," she said. "President Marshall has told the President of Kazakhstan what has happened. He's going to call of the jets."

"About bloody time!" said Katie.

Sure enough, just as the fighters were preparing to fire again. An urgent radio message was received by the lead pilot. "Major Bautovich. Return to base immediately. The President is in the White House and has been all the time. There was an imposter aboard Air Force One."

The pilot could not believe what he hearing. "But, General, there must be some mistake?"

"No mistake, Major," the Base General replied. "Our President has literally just got off the phone with him. Now leave the International Rescue craft and return to base. That is an order!"

"Yes, sir," said the pilot reluctantly. "Break off attack. Return to base!"

The five jets turned and raced off back in the direction they came.

"They've gone at last," said Katie.

"Phew!" exclaimed Laura. "And there are the escorts!"

Four more jets were approaching - this time from ahead of them. They flew past Thunderbird 2 and then turned to fly in formation with one in front, one behind and one on each side.

"International Rescue, this is Eagle 1 speaking," the lead pilot of the escort group said. "You have our full protection now."

"Eagle 1 from Thunderbird 2, we could have done with you earlier, but great to have you with us," replied Laura.

The coastline was now in full view as the five aircraft began the final leg of their journey back to Joint Andrews Base. The sun was beginning set on what had without a doubt been one of the toughest if not the challenges that International Rescue had ever undertaken.

* * *

It was almost dark when Thunderbird 2 and the escort jets arrived at Joint Andrews Base. Katie landed the craft on the tarmac. They could see a large number of Police vehicles waiting for them. There were also a number of black limousines as well.

"I wonder who those are for?" Katie asked Laura.

Laura got up. "Let's go find out," she said.

The main body of Thunderbird 2 opened up and the door of Pod 2 was opened to allow everyone from Air Force One to disembark. The girls all stood at the pod door and watched their relieved passengers be taken away in the various vehicles. But one limo did not leave with the others. The girls watched as a very familiar man stepped out and came towards them. Colonel Casey was there too walking beside him. They soon guessed who it was when the man embraced the First Lady and Daughter.

"Well, what do you know?" said Beth.

"President Marshall himself," added Adrienne.

"The real one this time," finished Wizzy.

"I wonder why he's here," said Leanna.

The others looked at her.

"I'd have thought that was obvious, Leanna," said Laura. "He's wants to thank us for saving his wife and daughter. And who are we to stop him?"

President Marshall walked towards them. They walked down the pod door to greet him.

"Mr President sir," said Laura giving him a salute.

"International Rescue," said President Marshall. "I cannot thank you enough for what you did for me and my family today. Also you saved several of my closest friends. I am forever grateful to you."

"Thank you, sir," said Laura.

"I presume you're in charge?" President Marshall asked.

Laura hesitated for a second. "No, sir, I'm not actually," she said. "Our commander's currently in the sick-bay up there." She pointed up at Thunderbird 2's nose. "He had a little accident during the rescue."

"Will he be okay?" asked the President, concerned.

"Our doctor has said he will be," Katie said. "He's currently resting so we'd rather not disturb him."

"Of course, I understand," The President said. He then beckoned one of his aids to come over. They did so and handed him a small green box. "When he does wake up, please give this to him. And dial that number," he said as he handed the box to Laura. "I would very much like to thank him in person. Oh, and only he can open the box." He winked and then turned to walk back to the limo leaving the girls rather confused.

"What was that all about?" asked Leanna.

Laura looked at the box.

"Go on, open it," urged Beth.

Laura was about to, but then she stopped. "No," she said firmly. "If he says only Dad can open it, than only Dad will open it. Come on, let's go home."

The weary girls went back into Thunderbird 2 to begin the journey back to Tracy Island.

* * *

Fifty hours had passed since the International Rescue team had got back to Tracy Island. Daniel had been kept in a stable condition aboard Thunderbird 2 and and then carefully moved into the Sick Bay so that Rosie could give him a proper examination. As she'd said, he wasn't injured apart from a bump where his head had knocked the inside of his helmet. There was nothing any of them could do now but wait.

"I hope he wakes up soon," Leanna said to the others in the lounge. "It doesn't feel right without him sitting in that chair."

"Maybe one of you should sit in it?" suggested Cassidy.

The five sisters looked at her as though she was mad.

"No way!" Laura said hotly. "Nobody sits in Dad's chair but Dad. "None of us have ever sat in it."

"Except when _he's_ in it," added Adrienne.

"Meaning we sit on him," remarked Wizzy.

Beth stood up. "I don't know about the rest of you," she said, "but I'm going to see how he's doing."

"We'll come with you," said Katie standing up too.

So they all stood up and headed down to the Sick Room. The first thing they saw when they got there was Daniel still lying motionless on his bed. Zoë was on his right and Joanne on his left, both were holding his hands. Rosie was standing holding a clipboard next to Joanne. Karolina and Jodie were at the ends of the bed and to their surprise, Kerry was there too, standing on the other side of Zoë opposite Rosie.

"Kerry?" said Adrienne. "When did you get here?"

"About an hour ago," Kerry replied. "I thought I should come down here to be with the rest of you. And I wanted to see my brother."

They all felt touched by this. It was rare for Kerry to come down to the island. Maybe, they thought, Zoë might have instructed Kerry to come down, but they didn't feel that was their place to ask.

"Hey, guys, he's waking up!" Rosie said.

Everyone's eyes shot over to look at Daniel.

Daniel let out a soft moan and opened his eyes. He looked around at everyone looking back at him with relieved faces. "Oh, good morning," he said slightly taken aback. "Have I overslept?"

"You could say that," chuckled Rosie. "You've been asleep for just over two days."

Daniel blinked. "I have?" he exclaimed. "Why, what happened?" And then he realised where he was. "Hey, what am I doing in the Sick Room?" he asked.

"You don't remember?" asked Laura.

Daniel thought back, trying to remember what had happened. "Let's see…Air Force One, The Hood disguised as the President, explosion ripped plane apart sending everyone aboard falling. I remember us diving after to catch them. Yes, that's right! I was the last to get my group safely aboard Thunderbird 2. But…I don't remember much after that."

"The people you caught made it aboard Thunderbird 2," said Zoë. "But you didn't make it."

"You hit your head on the side of the ship," explained Joanne. "Beth saw it happen."

"Your visor was cracked," added Wizzy. "That's what caused you to black out."

"Karolina saved you, Dad," said Katie. "She caught you with Thunderbird 7."

Daniel was stunned. "Oh…" he said, scratching his head. "Thank you, Karolina. I owe you one."

Karolina smiled and shook her head. "No, you don't, Mr Tracy," she said. "I owed you for rescuing me and my father all those years ago."

Daniel smiled. "Was everyone okay?" he asked.

"Everyone made it fine, Dad," said Laura. "We also had news from Colonel Casey saying they'd found the other henchmen of The Hood."

"The three that were in the cargo bay were recovered hanging onto crates in the Caribbean," said Beth.

"The pilot that chased me was picked up in the South Atlantic," added Leanna.

"And the pilot who ran away when Leanna made that dragon image was found in Namibia," finished Adrienne. "They found the wreckage of his plane on one of the beaches. Seems he ran out of fuel."

"But they didn't find The Hood, Mullion or Transom," said Katie. "Once again they've slipped through our fingers."

"So annoying!" agreed Beth. "We had them in our grasp as well!"

"They'll get what's coming to them," said Joanne. "Even they can't remain hidden forever."

Daniel was about to speak again when Kerry suddenly began talking into a phone. "Yes, sir, he's awake. I'll hand him over to you." She passed the phone to Daniel. "Someone wants to talk to you," she said.

Intrigued, Daniel took the phone and put it to his right ear. "Hello?"

"Mr Tracy," said a voice he never expected to hear. "Paul Marshall here."

"Mr President?!" Daniel exclaimed. "My sincerest apologies, I've only just woken up!"

"That's okay, my friend," replied the President. "I would've done this sooner but I was informed of your little incident and decided to leave this off until you had come round. I just wanted to say 'thank you' for what you and your lovely girls did for my family and colleagues aboard Air Force One the other day. I cannot tell you what a relief it was to learn everyone was safe after that…animal did to us. I trust your girls have given you my gift?"

"Gift?" Daniel asked. Then he saw Zoë passing him the green presentation box. He lifted the lid and gasped, for inside was a very shiny gold star on a blue ribbon.

"I present to you the Congressional Medal of Honour, Mr Tracy," said the President. "I know International Rescue doesn't accept rewards but on this occasion I felt you should. And I'm not taking 'no' for an answer, Mr Tracy. You saved my family and exposed that fraud. I will be forever grateful. And if there's anything we can do for you in return – please don't hesitate to ask."

Daniel was almost speechless. "Mr President…I…I don't know what to say. Thank you, sir!"

The President smiled from inside the Oval Office inside the White House. "You're very welcome, my friend," he said. "Keep up the good work. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Mr President," said Daniel. He handed the phone back to Kerry and looked down at the medal.

Just then, Kerry's watch beeped. It was Kelly calling from Thunderbird 5. "Sorry, guys, but we have a situation," she said. "Thunderbirds 1 and 2 are needed in Mexico right away."

"We're on it!" said Laura as she and the girls hurried out from the sick bay.

Daniel went to get up but Kerry, Rosie, Joanne and Zoë pushed him back.

"Oh no you don't," said Zoë. "You're not going on any missions until you are better."

Daniel sighed and fell back down onto the pillow. He knew he couldn't argue with them this time. "Yeah, okay," he said.

"You rest easy, sweetie," said Joanne. "Come on, girls." She then left the room with Sian and Cassidy. Kerry and Zoë also headed out, but not before both giving Daniel a 'get-well' kiss on the forehead.

Daniel was now left alone with Rosie. He picked up his Medal of Honour and looked at it with pride. "Best rescue result ever," he muttered happily to himself.


End file.
